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I don’t see us getting anything at arsenal, and while we ought to do well against the others they're all scrapping for survival, (at the moment, so are we.) 3 wins out of those would be a major achievement.

I don’t see us getting anything at arsenal, and while we ought to do well against the others they're all scrapping for survival, (at the moment, so are we.) 3 wins out of those would be a major achievement.

If we maintain our form from the 8 games since Ralph came in then we'd get 8 points from these games, so two wins and two draws is on the money.

Would take us to 30 points from 28. Then another 3 wins from our remaining 10 games will see us safe.

Palace is the hardest one to try and predict out of that run. They can be very average or very very good. Usually save the best for the big teams and they have got a Cup match next weekend against a big team.

Cardiff is the key one for me. Keep them below us and we should be fine.

Next 5 Games

We beat Everton and Leicester. Granted both are on the slide, but carrying that form it should mean me can overcome Burnley, Palace, Fulham & Cardiff.
Making allowances for a likely slip-up, 9 points from me. Would be happy with that.

Plus this season the top clubs are swatting away everyone outside the top 6 more readily than usual. So there's fewer points available to the relegation pack. 38 ought to be comfortably enough to stay up.

Not that anyone was in any doubt, but yesterday it was confirmed that it is impossible to stay up this season with only five wins as every team from 18th upwards already has five wins, and it is only 20th January with a mere 15 games and four months remaining in the season.

Plus this season the top clubs are swatting away everyone outside the top 6 more readily than usual. So there's fewer points available to the relegation pack. 38 ought to be comfortably enough to stay up.

I suppose the only risk is there night be a bit of a scrap for the last place which could generate a few more points, but I agree 38 should be fine.

From here, we just need Cardiff to nicely collapse and the bottom three could be done and dusted come mid-March. Boring, but good for us.

Number of points in itself isn't really the target any more, the crucial thing is to beat the teams around us. We have to aim to win against Palace, Cardiff and Fulham, draw against Burnley. If we do this we will be safe.

No, clearly not. But 36 would be cutting it a bit fine. In the scenario I laid out, two wins and a couple of draws in our final 10 games would be sufficient. I reckon we can and will do much better than that though.

No, clearly not. But 36 would be cutting it a bit fine. In the scenario I laid out, two wins and a couple of draws in our final 10 games would be sufficient. I reckon we can and will do much better than that though.

I doubt 36 will be cutting it fine either, to be honest, unless we lose to Cardiff.

Have we achieved the two more wins since the two more wins thread (since locked) was posted?

Yes. Mentioned above but this weekend saw Newcastle win and put the final nail in the coffin of the moronic idea that 5 wins would be enough for a team to stay up this season. All teams from 18th up already have 5.and it's January.

Rather than the next 5 look at the next three, as there is a big gap between game 3 and 4; have to aim for at least 7 from those , the hard one will be Burnley away after a Wednesday game, another physical battle. Did we do the double over a team last season?

Rather than the next 5 look at the next three, as there is a big gap between game 3 and 4; have to aim for at least 7 from those , the hard one will be Burnley away after a Wednesday game, another physical battle. Did we do the double over a team last season?

WBA surely?
Palace, Arsenal and Huddersfield are the only sides we can do the double over this season, I think?

Yes. Mentioned above but this weekend saw Newcastle win and put the final nail in the coffin of the moronic idea that 5 wins would be enough for a team to stay up this season. All teams from 18th up already have 5.and it's January.

Number of points in itself isn't really the target any more, the crucial thing is to beat the teams around us. We have to aim to win against Palace, Cardiff and Fulham, draw against Burnley. If we do this we will be safe.

This. I'll happily take beating Cardiff and Fulham, a draw with Burnley, with one or two points from the other 2 matches.

It isn't that simple. We had half a season of Mark Hughes. That would relegate a lot of clubs. It's cost us being 8th or 9th right now, with the clubs in those positions even now not that far ahead points wise given how dire our situation was.

The teams below us are truly awful. Not in a just failing to play to potential way, but truly awful. I'd be surprised if the bottom 3 don't all go, but it depends how awful Newcastle, Burnley and Palace end up being IMO. I think all three will have enough to scrape near 35 points, and I think Saints will get nearer 40.

Call it arrogant if you want but I've said for 2 years the key problem is the manager not the squad. Now we have a great manager who'll improve the players in that squad further rather than wasting them. I'm excited for next season and going to enjoy seeing players improve the rest of this season.

I think as long as we beat Cardiff and Fulham that is the most important. Palace would be a big win and they are very unpredictable and will cause us problems, but it would be a great place to start this 'easier' run of games. If we assume 35 points is safety, then we only need 4 more wins potentially. We are now capable of getting possibly 3 of those in our next 5 games. We now have 10 days off, chance for Bertrand/Lemina to come back, and possibly a signing or two, a real chance to make the remainder of our season relatively stress free and put those grey clouds of the last 2 seasons behind us.

Went to the Palace vs Newcastle game earlier in the season - one of the lowest quality Premier League matches you're ever likely to witness. On the basis of that, would say we will beat Palace, but they're a really funny team, one week can be hopeless, the next week ripping teams apart (always on the break). They're poor in defence and the midfield is quite average, but dangerous in attack with the pace and skill of Townsend and Zaha always a threat. We havent done particularly well against the other lower half teams this season, but would like to think we'd get two to three wins from the 4 games (excluding Arsenal).

I think these 5 fixtures could make or break our season. We are easily good enough under Hasenhuttl to pick up 12 points from those games, and bearing in mind we beat Arsenal shortly before Christmas at St Mary's, when we've been better on the road last calendar year, there's no reason we couldn't pick up all 15 points. But let's be serious, no team is going to roll over for us, so we have to be at our best, and hope we can steer clear from any more suspensions and injuries.

We're now on 22 points - I'd guess that 36 will probably be enough for survival this year, and the total may even be lower. Even if we can get 10 points from these games, we will virtually be safe and looking up the table. I think we will get 8, a point against Palace (who are unpredictable) and Burnley (whose own form has been good lately apart from their cup exit), wins against Cardiff (feel sorry for them really but they lack the quality) and Fulham (who I still think will improve but their defence leaks worse than my Thermos flask that I use for work), and Arsenal will get their revenge against us at the Emirates. That puts us on 30 points, and we should have a fairly comfortable end to the season. Any fewer than 7 points from these games, and we will be in the relegation battle.